All Fall Down
by ZomgShaylex
Summary: “I know it’s going to be difficult, Granger. You think I haven’t already thought of that? I can handle myself. Just sod off already.” “You’re going to be sick of it all one day, and when you are, I’m here to talk or listen.” Currently on Hiatus.
1. The Unexpected Meeting

_**A/N: The characters, unfortunately, do not belong to me. The plot, however, does. The inspiration for this is OneRepublic's "All Fall Down."**_

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The clouds above hung low as he stepped out into the cool morning air. This was the fourth consecutive day that the sun had hidden behind the clouds, and he wasn't complaining a bit. Yes, that bright orb was a nice thing to have, seeing as it kept everyone in the world from freezing his or her arse off but in some odd way, walking around beneath the cover of an overcast sky added a sense of reassurance to his normally disconcerting days. Just being able to walk through the dim streets and know that other people were just as unhappy as he was gave him comfort.

He continued his walk, not even bothering to pull his cloak tight against the chilly breeze; he was used to the icy nipping at his face. One might even go as far as to say that he enjoyed the feeling, or lack there of, of his body becoming numb to its surroundings. At least then, he had proof that he could withstand something in his life.

When he reached the corner of the street, he turned and walked towards what at first appeared to be an abandoned building, but what turned out to be a bustling pub of sorts. He walked inside and continued straight to the back; after tapping an assortment of bricks in the barrier, he walked through the opening that had just formed and found himself in a hectic alley.

First things first, he needed to go to Gringott's and withdraw some money so that his day wouldn't be completely wasted. He ambled towards the large building at the opposite end of the alley, being in no hurry to be anywhere in particular. He had made it a quarter of the way there before the staring started. Almost every person who passed him, with the exception of a few children who were oblivious to his notoriety, paused for an instant to gawk at him and then continued on their way, murmuring about whom they had just seen. Of course, he was accustomed to these types of behavior and was almost to the point where he could disregard people of this caliber. However, the word _almost_ came into play quite often as he thoroughly enjoyed staring right back at them with the same look of shock clouding his features. Nevertheless, every time someone reacted in this manner towards him, no matter how much he denied it, a question rose in his mind: Am I really so bad? He knew the answer to this question and pushed it out of his mind.

When he arrived at Gringott's he gave one of the goblins at the front desk his key and proceeded to get into a cart that would take him into the depths of the bank. The money that met him when he arrived at his vault was definitely ample enough to live off, though one might argue that he wasn't living. Truth be told, ever since his switch of sides during the war, he hadn't smiled once. Not that he smiled before, but that's not the point. He had hoped that things would get better for him once he accepted the truth, but in reality, they just got worse. His family disowned him, though he wasn't entirely surprised by that, his old friends abandoned him, if you could call them friends, and the wizarding world looked at him as either a coward or a traitor. His life hadn't been that great before, but now that he was supposed to be happy, it felt worse. Everything he had known plummeted down in front of him when he had made that choice. He had thought back to that day quite frequently and couldn't even remember what possessed him to stun his aunt, and disarm his friend. All he knew was that it felt right at that moment and he couldn't take it back.

He left Gringotts, his pocket heavy with coins, and proceeded to the apothecary; he had been meaning to replenish his ingredients supply a lot sooner, but hadn't gotten around to it. After the Dark Lord's downfall, he had started brewing different potions to pass the time. Eventually his supply had dwindled and now he needed to restock. One could ask him why he decided to brew potions, and frankly, _he_ wasn't very sure why he decided to. One thing is for certain, he liked being in control. When he brewed potions, he put the ingredients in and knew what the outcome would be. The ingredients always did their job and he liked the dependability of it. Of course, he wasn't going to tell that to anyone else, so he would change the subject, avoiding the question all together.

As he walked around, picking up the various containers and bottles he would need, his mind wandered back to a conversation he had had a little while after that fateful battle when his world was turned upside down.

"_This is going to be difficult."_

"_I know it's going to be difficult, Granger. You think I haven't already thought of that. I've gone through every scenario in my head, and I know every possible reaction someone could have to me. I've prepared myself for what's out there and who's waiting for me. I'm quite aware of the situation I've put myself in and I can handle it. I can handle myself. Just sod off already."_

"_You can handle yourself, but can you handle others? You're going to be sick of it all one day and when you are, I'm here to talk or listen. You can do with that information what you will."_

This conversation had surfaced in his head a number of times in the past couple weeks, and admittedly, her words were starting to sound inviting. He was, as she said, tired of it all. He wanted to crawl up into a ball and forget the world. He would like to forget everyone in it as well, but that conversation kept cropping up, so he had to exclude at least one person from that. Call it pride if you will, or maybe even reluctance, but whatever it's name, it had kept him from approaching the one person who had offered him comfort. In spite of his desire to spill it all to her, he hadn't and didn't plan on it anytime soon.

"Do you need any help?"

The voice that pulled him out of his thoughts caught him off guard as he spun around to meet the eyes of the last person he thought he would see.

"Oh, hey. I didn't know… I'll just leave you to your business."

That was his chance, his moment to talk to her, his moment to ask for… help. He didn't know what he was doing, and he didn't know why he was doing it but the next thing he knew, he was tapping her on the shoulder and there she was, staring at him expectantly.

"Do you need some help after all?"

"Um… uh…"

Why was he struggling to speak? He was perfectly capable of forming a sentence and certainly had plenty to discuss. He half expected her to walk away, but she didn't; she remained in front of him, waiting patiently for him to collect his thoughts. And at that moment, he felt a wave of respect for her more powerful than he had ever felt for anyone else. She had offered one of the most detested people in the wizarding world her aid. And when he actually attempted to talk to her and made it look like a joke, she remained patient with him. He didn't know if it was possible for one moment to change your perspective on everything, but if it was, this was his moment.

"When's your next break?" He couldn't believe how smooth it came out considering how flustered he'd been just a moment before, but it actually sounded almost date like. He hoped she didn't take it that way because that's not how he intended it.

"Um…. I could probably take one now," she said this somewhat hesitantly, but seemed generally at ease with the situation.

However, he almost lost his cool. He hadn't the slightest notion that she would say now. He expected some time to prepare what he was going to say. That plan went out the window though, so he would just have to make do.

"Ok, can you meet me at that café in about 5 minutes?"

"See you there."

And with that, Draco Malfoy was going to meet Hermione Granger.

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_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and leave some feedback!**_


	2. Dwelling

Looking back on it now, he realized that this was the second time he had made an impulsive decision, not being able to recall his reasoning behind it. He didn't have long to dwell on this fact, however, as Hermione had just sat down in front of him. Had it really been 5 minutes already? He hadn't even thought of what he wanted to talk about or where he wanted to start. Luckily, he didn't have to start the conversation.

"So, you look good."

To say Draco was flabbergasted would be an understatement. "Excuse me?"

"I said you look good."

"… Thanks?"

Hermione's look of amusement just served to confuse Draco even more, "Well, I didn't really mean it as a compliment. The last time I saw you, you had just turned your back on all your friends, family, and values; you looked like hell. So in comparison, you do look good."

What was meant to be cold indifference replaced Draco's confusion, however it was audible that Hermione had hit a nerve, "Well last I saw you, you had a rat's nest for hair and looked like you had slept in a chimney. Too bad I can't give you the same sentiment."

"Oh, now you can form sentences?"

"I've always been capable of forming sentences. In fact, most of my sentences are of the complex-compound variety."

"Really, because it didn't seem like it a couple minutes ago in the apothecary."

"Why do you work in the apothecary anyway? You could have pretty much any post you want."

"If you must know, I like the flexibility of the timetable and they give me a discount on potion ingredients. We're not here to talk about me though. You're the one who asked me here."

"Yes, I did invite you here, but I never said we had to talk about me. For all you know, I could want to interview you or something."

"And what would you be interviewing me for?"

"My article on London's Ugliest Witches."

"Oh, how very original."

"Slytherins don't have to be imaginative, just resourceful. I plan on using common knowledge to make a pretty galleon."

A sigh, "Look, this is my respite. I want to try and enjoy it as much as I can, so if you don't have anything in particular to discuss with me, I'm leaving."

Hermione's retreating figure brought him out of autopilot.

'What just happened? Did I really just squander my only chance?'

He glanced at the spot that she was seated in just moments ago and everything hit him at once.

'All I do is drive people away; as soon as she said anything worth listening to, I shut off and went on autopilot. Am I afraid of what she'll say? Bullocks, I'm pathetic. I can't even hold a conversation with one of the most patient people in this world without annoying her. What have I become? I can't be like this. I won't be like this. I've got to start now; this is my time for change.'

He was up, running to catch up with her, running to save the only chance he got, the only chance he would ever get at change.

He fell into step behind her. She wasn't aware he was there and it took every ounce of determination he possessed to keep walking, all the while thinking to himself repeatedly, 'Just reach out and tap her on the shoulder, anything to let her know you're here. Let her know you want to change. You have to change. You have to.'

He followed her for about 10 minutes without knowing where she was going, or why he hadn't said something yet. His thoughts were filled with things to say and specific topics to talk about, but he couldn't decided where to start. Of course, when someone is lost in thought, they tend to neglect their surroundings; this is how he ended up practically hurtling into a stationary Hermione.

"Oomph. Hey buddy, watch where you're goi… oh, it's you."

His mind went blank. Everything that he had been thinking of saying left his mind as quickly as it had come. All he was left with was a blank expression similar to the one he had adorned just a short while ago, and once again, Hermione waited patiently for him to construct a coherent sentence. This time it came sooner than last.

"I would like to make an apology for the way I behaved at the café. It was boorish of me. I have quite a lot of things on my mind at the moment. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about earlier."

Draco was glad his autopilot this time around wasn't of the uncouth variety.

Her reaction surprised him. Instead of scowling and calling him a hypocrite or something along those lines, her expression lightened and a halfway smile joined her features.

"It's about time. I knew you would come around eventually. Unfortunately, my break ends in about five minutes, so I'll have to give you a rain check. When's the next time you're available?"

He wanted to say all the time, but that would sound too desperate. He was already appearing lowly by coming to her to talk about his problems.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is. Where would you like to meet?"

"Where ever you would like." 'Did I just say that?'

"Well, how about we meet at the café again?" Hermione looked up at him expectantly.

"Sounds good to me. Say around, noon-ish?" 'This is actually working!'

"Okay, see you then."

And with that, Hermione walked back towards the Apothecary, leaving Draco to once again contemplate the conversation to come. This time, however, he would know exactly what to say.


End file.
